Amy’s refugee discovery

Pastor Jon and his wife Amy had a dream. Their dream was to create a church for the youth, and more specifically, refugees that came from all over the world. Although they were just starting, there was a great deal of refugees interested in the church. Pastor Jon had come from a lineage of doctors and his father spoiled him often, money was not a question of if, but how much. They met when they were young and even married younger. At the ripe age of 18, Amy had accidently gotten pregnant with Pastor John who was 41 at the time. Pastor John thinking that it would ruin his reputation, decided to take the steps and had a shotgun marriage. Amy didn’t have much time to think and with everything happening so quickly she complied. Sometimes Amy wondered if he even loved her at all. Nevertheless they were like any other couple and stuck it out until now.

Now 15 years had passed and their dream of building a church from nothing was finally coming true. All the kids going to the church were in their teens and rowdy. They were excited to be young and to be living in America. The group of 40 was extremely friendly and loved each other’s company. Many of the kids bonded, coming from the same situation, and Pastor Jon and Amy felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Pastor John was in the latter half of his 50’s and only growing older, it was hard for him to keep up with the other boys while playing soccer. Amy on the other hand was closer in age to the kids than she was to her husband. In a sense, she felt as if she was reliving her youth that was stripped away. Amy bared three children of her own ranging from the ages of ten to fifteen. Her children also loved coming to church and having the chance to experience new cultures and people. Most of the teenagers that came to the church were experiencing a unique type of pain and sought help from their peers and church leaders. It was truly a place of love, but some people had other, ill-thought intentions…

It was the middle of June and the sun was scorching. All the kids had suddenly lost their energy to praise and play with another. “We have to do something honey.” Amy said to her husband.

“You’re right. They look like they’re melting in their seats.” Jon replied.

“Pastor. Can we please go to the pool? Please.” One kid asked and sparked the entire group.

“Yea! The pool. We have to cool off.” Another shouted. The children cheered and started chanting “pool! Pool! Pool!” Pastor Jon looked to his wife and smiled.

“Alright let’s go,” Pastor Jon shouted. All the kids yelled in excitement and rushed towards the vans.

Two vans pulled up to the pastor’s house. The kids stood in awe, Pastor Jon’s house was nearly 6,000 square feet and had many bedrooms, including an Olympic sized swimming pool. The boys took of their shirts and ran strait for the pool jumping and diving in without hesitation. Jon and Amy sat back watching the sheer joy glistening off the children’s faces. Jon pulled away sweating more than usual, “Darling. It’s been a long day. I think I’ll go lay down for a bit. Is it alright if you watch the kids for a while?”

“Sure Honey. Go and rest, don’t worry about us.” She said. Pastor Jon grabbed onto the railing with one hand and placed the other on his knee to support his over bearing weight as Amy headed towards the backyard.

Amy was wearing a white blouse buttoned up to her neck and a black skirt that wrapped around to her ankles. It was chaos in the backyard, as everyone was running and swimming for joy. Amy stood the near the edge of the pool, not close enough to get wet but close enough just in case someone got hurt.